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| This photo will bring back memories to any gamer |
So today is a very important date in video game history. Today marks the 25 year anniversary of the release of Super Mario Brothers for the NES. That's right, it's been 25 years since a little Italian plumber with a hunger for shrooms busted into the American limelight. Even though Mario technically first appeared in the 1981 arcade hit Donkey Kong, (which is a much better game than Mortal Kombat) the 1985 platformer would ultimately be the game that would drive millions of little nerds to take their baby steps into the realm of video games, and establishing a unique social life. So this is my love letter, and I guess a pseudo memoir, to Super Mario Brothers.
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| Mario and Company |
1985. I was merely a microbe inside my father's nether regions. Not even conceived, the game would have to wait until it could take hold of me at the tender age of 4 years old. So in the meantime, just like a bad cold, Super Mario infiltrated my family through my brothers and my cousin. It wouldn't be until 1990 when I first grabbed a nintendo controller. At first, I didn't know what to do with the damn thing, and Super Mario wasn't even the first game I ever played. Instead, my first forray into the world of video games came through "Mike Tyson's: Punch-Out," and it was a sad beginning. I remember being at my cousin's house and I snuck into his room to play the game. After countless breaths of fresh air into the plastic cartridge, I finally booted the game up, and came across the first fighter...a little weakling of a ginger named "Glass Joe." But on that fateful day, after many bouts of being mercilessly beat-down by my siblings, Joe would have his day. Confused by the buttons, I couldn't land a single punch. Ultimately I was knocked out, and my fits of scream echoed through the house. That's when my cousin walked in and saw me. Chuckles turned to laughs, and suddenly I was being labeled the worst video gamer of all time by my siblings. Glass Joe has a record of 1-99...and I was that 1. I vowed to rise up to greatness somehow, and because I was so bitter about the loss, my cousin pointed me to try out a much simpler game called Super Mario Brothers.
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| Simplicity is key, but challenge must be present |
With no manual, and just a common sense for what was on the screen, I caught on quickly to the control scheme. Anyone can jump right in, and understand the world of Super Mario. You run, jump, and sometimes shoot fireballs, and that's it. But the challenge of the game was what made it all worthwhile. While simple to control, perfect timing became the obstacle to master, and the game became harder as you completed each level. Sure there were warp rooms, but what's the fun in that? Why bother playing a game if you just want to skip to the end? It's like having someone spoil the ending to a good movie. It sucks. Anyway, I eventually finished the original game and went back to take on my original foe...Glass Joe. After familiarizing myself through the laws of gaming through Super Mario, Glass Joe became a chump ginger who I TKO'd in the first two minutes of Round 1, and it was glorious. So while I'll never be able to rid myself of the one win Glass Joe has over me, his weak fists pounding me to a pulp ultimately made me want to be a better gamer, and Super Mario Brothers was there to save the day.
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| A game-changer in every sense of the phrase. Super Mario 64 |
Super Mario is the way to get people into gaming. It blurs generational gaps, and ultimately is the defining moment in whether you like games or not. Not only that, I like to credit Super Mario with the birth of multiplayer and social gaming. The original Mario Brothers had a two-player mode, which would continue to evolve in each of its future games. Fast-forward to the SNES era, and games like Mario Kart brought friends to each others houses where we would have sleepless nights of trying to master the 150cc courses. Battle Mode was intense by the way. Not only that, I have to credit Mario for the hundreds of other games that are out there today. There is not a single game on the market today that wasn't influenced in some way, shape, or form, by the original Mario Brothers. Whether it's the 2-player system, the platforming, the level designs, etc., Mario inspired generations of gamers and game developers for years to come.
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| No joke, this show was gold to me as a child |
In all Mario has become a cultural phenomenon in the gaming universe. With more than 200 games under his plumber's belt, Mario has made leaps and bounds in terms of gameplay variation. From platformer, to sports star, to RPG's, to racers, everyone who's played a video game has had some one-on-one time with the stocky plumber. Heck, even if you didn't play games, they made a God-awful TV show and movie which I used to think was the shit back in the day. Despite what the media loves to say about video games degenerating our youth, Mario Brothers is responsible for more than just popularizing video games. In a weird way, Mario made me challenge myself to always be persistent and to never quit. Not only that, it brought me closer with many people throughout my life. Whether it's siblings, friends, strangers, or even your parents, there's a social aspect in gaming that can't be denied. I don't know if it's the cute art style or generally comfy atmosphere in the game, but Super Mario Brothers always had a way to bring people together who are just looking to have some good old fashioned fun. I'd hate to think what gaming would be like without Super Mario because honestly, a world without Mario is chaos, and for that, I wish Mario a happy 25 years.
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